What does This Have to do with Fiber?

You might be wondering why I have been sharing the agricultural posts over the last few Tuesdays. What does this have to with fiber?

Hopefully as the weeks went by your learned that our fiber choice is as important to the environment, economy and your neighbors as it is the finished piece, end use and user.

The final thought I’m going to share, for now, from this angle is what happens to the piece when it is no longer needed or can’t be used? Where does it go? For how long? Who reaps the consequences?

I think I mentioned the cradle to grave idea in an earlier post. This is thinking through what does it take to get the product made, every step, to you and what happens to it when you’re finished with it.

Wool and other protein, animal, fibers, plants like cotton and linen, all break down if they are discarded into a landfill, lost at sea or on a walk for example.

A throw, made of acrylic, that has seen better days is often discarded in one of two ways; given to the thrift store or thrown in the trash. The thrift store is a way that many 1st worlders use to get rid of unwanted items with less guilt. It isn’t a guilt free way to off load things we no longer need or use. Many of those discarded textiles end up baled and shipped over seas.

Most 1st worlders don’t know that. Click here to see what is being done with these bales. Out of site, out of mind. If that same throw is tossed into the trash, well we don’t really know how long it’ll be there, but guesses are hundreds of years. I challenge you to start looking into processes for the items you use regularly and see if you can choose a different product, one better in the grave, one better on the cradle end to.

The world and the whole system is pretty broken and we’ll never be able to do it all perfectly without going totally off grid, but we can do better with the small decisions we make. For example, the town I live in offers recycling as part of the trash service. I learned that the brand of baked canned chips we were eating, the can isn’t recyclable, but there is another brand we like the taste of and their can is completely recyclable.

Check out Mighty Nest to see the different products they offer to keep trash down and make life easier.

Happy making!